Miami Criminal Defense Blog

White collar crimes, including graft, money laundering, insider trading and tax fraud are commonly equated with theft or burglary, but studies have shown that the psychology of the white collar criminal is very different than that of the standard burglar. Unlike someone who is robbing a bank at gunpoint, white collar crimes embrace a kind of cognitive dissonance. Since the person committing the crime can't really see actual human victims, it's harder for them to recognize when they've gone over a line.

That kind of disassociation can also continue after they're charged. Here are some of the most common myths that white collar defendants buy into (to their detriment):

1. Anti-corruption laws aren't being heavily enforced. There's a widespread belief that the current presidential administration isn't enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, for example, but this isn't actually true. The Department of Justice has been actively pursuing charges against major companies and individuals alike.
2. Companies pay fines but executives don't go to prison. This also isn't true. The financial crisis of 2008 brought some permanent changes to how financial misconduct by executive officers is handled. Just ask the 56 bankers and traders that were sentenced to prison for their roles in that particular event.
3. Judges are lenient on white collar criminals. If you still believe this, you haven't been paying attention to the news. Judges have less discretion than ever when it comes to federal sentencing laws. They often can't be lenient even if they're so inclined.
4. Influential, wealthy defendants have nothing to fear. Again, this simply isn't so. Federal prosecutors are not gun-shy about using the full extent of their powers to build a powerful case against whatever defendant is in their sights.

The COVID-19 virus has been making a lot of headlines around the nation. People are naturally concerned about how to stay safe.

Well, several police departments (including at least one here in Florida) decided that they might be able to take advantage of the growing anxiety surrounding the new coronavirus. They put out the word to the general public that any drugs that were obtained on the black market might be contaminated with the viral disease. These "helpful" police officials offered to do free testing on any drugs that the public cared to bring into the station. They even offered to meet worried residents in their homes if the drugs were too bulky to easily transport.

In Florida, a felony conviction has historically meant the end of your ability to vote -- a restriction that hails back to Jim Crow-era laws and tends to affect black voters disproportionally.

Amendment 4, or the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, was supposed to enact the will of the people. In 2018, Floridians overwhelmingly voted to give the majority of felons their voting rights back after they'd completed their sentence and any parole or probation.

White collar criminal prosecutions are in the news a lot these days. Since it's always wise to know where investigative trends are going, let's take a look at what's been happening in late 2019 and where you may expect investigative efforts to focus next.

At the end of 2019, the Justice Department got tough on a number of high-level executives over issues related to the way that their companies reported their success to investors. Executives at the tech startup Outcome Health were indicted for both bank and wire fraud, falsification of documents, as well as other kinds of illegal misconduct for allegedly deceiving banks, clients and investors alike.